ICT CS William Kabogo speaking during a meeting with heads of departments and divisions in the ministry on January 22, 2025/KNA
Ministry of Information Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo has called for the full digitisation of government manual records, a move that he says will lead to efficient service delivery and boost economic growth.
Kabogo said that there is a need for a whole government approach for the full realisation of the digitisation agenda, as he pledged that the ministry will play a leading role seeing that ICT is an enabler for all ministries and agencies.
Speaking during a meeting with heads of departments and divisions from the State Department of ICT, the CS called on ministries and departments to digitise their manual records, automate their backend processes, and integrate the whole system, which will get rid of manual records.
“Seeing that in the past ministries have been working in silos in the digitalization process, as the ministry in charge of ICT we are going to strictly follow the laid-down guidelines and coordinate the whole of government approach," Kabogo said.
The CS said that he wants to have the government fully digitised by the time he leaves office, as he gave a 90-day’ timeline for the ministry to go paperless in its communication, that is, letters and memos, among others.
Kabogo emphasized that the digitisation of government operations will help deal with corruption, as he explained that when more information is made available to the public, it becomes a deterrent to corruption.
“If you can digitise government services from A-Z, the Controller of Budget and Auditor General will be able to pick up information from counties and the national government as it is happening, and they will be able to compare your plan of expenditure with your available budget, and this will help deal with the issue of pending bills,” Kabogo said.
He continued: “As a ministry in charge of leading the digitalization of government, we also want to lead in the fight against corruption, and I am proposing that we have a trophy for people who fight corruption, and it is visible in their work in the ministry so that we can reward them,” said Kabogo.
Under the Ministry of Lands digitisation programme, Kabogo said that so far a total of Sh3.9 billion has been spent on digitisation of records where documents have been scanned as he called for full migration into the digital system to avoid the production of new physical records.
State Department for ICT and Digital Economy Principal Secretary (PS) Eng John Tanui said that the ICT is critical in the overall performance of the government since the other sectors cannot deliver without the ministry’s support in terms of connectivity and provision of operational platforms.
According to Tanui, the digital economy is expanding rapidly, recording a growth rate 2.5 times faster than the physical economy, as he explained that the ministry is working to support the sector with systems that can handle challenges like cybersecurity, misinformation, and disinformation, among others.
“The Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) has prioritised the ICT sector, where we have been mandated to build 1,450 digital hubs across the country, enhance connectivity, and grow the economy," Tanui said.
The PS said that the government has had the ambition to digitise with different ministries and agencies approaching it from different angles, where some just scanned their documents and continued with the manual processes, which leads to the generation of new manual records.
“As long as you are not moving to a digital process, it means you start generating new manual records, and that is what we want to address. For instance, in the Ministry of Lands, we worked as a multi-agency team and developed a digital system which over time has proved to have significant advantages, and we are working towards accelerating the digitization of their centers across the country,” Tanui said.